Field
The present invention relate to a binder for a battery, and an anode and a lithium battery including the same.
Description of the Related Technology
Lithium batteries are used in various applications due to their high voltage and high energy density characteristics. For example, lithium batteries in the field of electric vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), because the battery is required to operate at a high temperature, provide a large amount of electricity during charge or discharge, and have a prolonged operation time. A lithium battery having excellent discharge capacity and life characteristics is needed to meet these requirements.
The carbon-based material is porous and is stable because of its small volume change during charging and discharging. However, the capacity of the battery using the carbon-based material is generally low due to the porous structure of carbon. For example, the theoretical capacity of graphite having high crystallinity is about 372 mAh/g for a LiC6 composition.
A metal alloyable with lithium may be used as an anode active material having a high capacity in comparison to the carbon-based material. Examples of metals alloyable with lithium include silicon (Si), tin (Sn), aluminum (Al), etc. However, the metals alloyable with lithium can easily deteriorate and thus have short battery life. For example, in the case of Sn, Sn particles are electrically isolated by repeated aggregation and crushing processes during the repeated charge and discharge.
Therefore, a binder, which may increase the battery life characteristics of a lithium battery by accommodating and/or inhibiting the volume change of the above non-carbon-based anode active material is in demand.